Nuclear Engineering

WELCOMING STATEMENT

Assalaamu’alaikum and welcome to the web pages of the Bachelor of Nuclear Engineering programme.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank the Ministry of Higher Education for the trust given to us to run the first and the only Bachelor of Nuclear Engineering programme in the country. The first batch of 32 students was received in September 2012.

It is accepted fact that the energy demand is set to rise dramatically in the 21st century, especially in developing countries. Meeting global energy demand will require a 75% expansion in primary energy supply by 2050. If no steps are taken to reduce emissions, the energy-related CO2 emissions would nearly double in the same period. Nuclear power is currently the third largest source of energy type after thermal and hydro power, contributing to 12.32 % of total world electricity generation. Despite public scepticism which arose following the March 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident, a number of countries are going ahead with plans to implement or expand their nuclear power programmes because of the climate change, limited fossil fuel supply, and concerns about energy security. The IAEA’s latest projections of nuclear power growth show a steady rise in the number of nuclear power plants in the world in the next 20 years. They projected growth in nuclear power capacity is 23% by 2030.

Closer to home, depletion of the country’s petroleum and gas reserves has given a strong hint to the country to look for alternative sources of energy. Nuclear energy is one of the best alternative sources of energy. Rapid developments in the application of nuclear engineering in other sectors, such as in defence, medical, agriculture and others requires more nuclear engineers. It has been shown that one of the critical conditions for the successful introduction of a nuclear power programme and other nuclear related industries is the availability of trained manpower of the required quality and quantity. For these reasons, it should be preceded by a thorough assessment and upgrading of among other things, the education/training infrastructures and establish national education and training capabilities in engineering and science in order to develop qualified personnel for the nuclear power programme.

The main objective of this Bachelor in Nuclear Engineering programme is to train and prepare students to become nuclear engineers with the capability in the design, construction, maintenance, consultancy, education, and training in the safe and efficient operation of a nuclear power plant and in other nuclear related industries. This will contribute quickly and effectively to the development of nuclear science and technology in Malaysia and the region, and to create a benchmark educational programme that can serve as a model in Malaysia.

Nuclear safety, monitoring, and safeguards are of great concern today and require a generation of nuclear engineers to contribute to the development of new non-destructive detection and monitoring systems. Upon graduation, nuclear engineers can find employment opportunities in nuclear energy industry, R&D, new research on emerging technologies, medical, defence, agriculture sectors, in the services industry, nuclear safety, nuclear medicine, radiation diagnosis and protection.

Dr. Khaidzir bin Hamzah
Head of Nuclear Engineering Programme

WHY STUDY NUCLEAR ENGINEERING
Nuclear engineering concerns with the science of nuclear processes and their application to the development of various technologies. Nuclear processes are fundamental in the medical diagnosis and treatment fields, and in basic and applied research concerning accelerator, laser and superconducting magnetic systems. Currently, the major commercial application is the utilization of nuclear fission energy for the production of electricity. Therefore, nuclear engineers are concerned with maintaining expertise in the design, development and safe operation of advanced fission reactors, such as Generation IV reactors, developing both institutional and technical options for a safe handling of radioactive waste and nuclear materials management, and in fostering research in nuclear science and applications, with emphasis on and not limited to bioengineering, detection and instrumentation and environmental science.